Due to the unique geography and climate of the surrounding mountains, it was quite easy for Nightrain City, which was built right next to the mountains, to become a place where dark clouds gathered. And since the rainstorms always occurred at night, when the temperature was lower, the city received its poetic nickname of Nightrain City.
In terms of military affairs, Nightrain City had a high geographical advantage, and the rainy weather was also an advantage for the fortress's defense. The slippery mountain roads made it difficult for siege weapons to be effective. Under Halent's management, the entire mountain was being artificially modified, and this fortress was expanding at a frightening speed. Based on the current construction speed, it was expected that Nightrain City would become one of the most powerful fortresses in the world within two years.
But today, what the city guards saw wasn't the usual rainy night. Instead, it was a snowy night that had long since disappeared in spring.
At first, it was only snowflakes the size of rice grains. Following that, snowflakes began to fall, and in the blink of an eye, it became a blizzard so heavy that it was difficult to even see one's own fingers.
The lich stood there, and the ground around him transformed into a field of snow. Just by releasing his own magic, he was able to change the environment. Without a doubt, he was an incredible archmage. Perhaps he had already reached the threshold of Saint rank, but …
"So what? No matter how strong he is, have we ever feared anyone?"
The 500-kilogram diamond greatsword was trembling slightly due to its wielder's excitement. The dragon-eyed Knight sensed his opponent's threat, and he had already found the most valuable prey. With a low roar, all the muscles in his body naturally entered a state of overload, as if he was a wild beast hunting for food.
“FUL！”
Halent muttered a magical rune in a low voice, causing blue and white lightning to flash around his greatsword. The dancing lightning illuminated his face, and Halent's overly handsome face, which was filled with the desire to do battle, now had a steely decisiveness to it. His Thunderstorm greatsword was strengthened and enchanted by draconic magic, and every time he swung it, it would summon lightning and thunder, increasing its power by thirty percent.
Not far away, "Dark Cloud Storm" Sishusler viciously glared at Ah Dang, who had already transformed again. He was just about to flap his wings, intending to fly up and launch a new round of attacks when he suddenly felt a light footprint on his forehead. Only then did he react.
"Little guy, if you can't die, don't move."
Above its head was a young human female. However, in the Blue Dragon's senses, it felt as if she was a thousand-kilogram boulder. The Giant Dragon species engraved their ranks into their bloodline. This was the first time the noble Blue Dragon had felt true terror. This was a superior aura that even an adult Blue Dragon would be unable to resist.
"The Dragon King of the Color Dragons? Primordial Dragon? "
Adult Dragons, Ancient Dragons, and Ancient Dragons, under normal circumstances, every advancement would take thousands of years. The difference in strength was huge, and this huge difference in Draconic Might suppressed the Adult Blue Dragon, making it unable to get up and could only bow down.
No one would believe it if this was told to others. With two unknown individuals as opponents, the illustrious Dragon Knight Archduke and his dragon were completely suppressed in just a single exchange.
Right now, I was enjoying my battle against Halent.
"Icicle."
There was no incantation. There weren't even any magical waves. I extended my bony middle finger, and it glowed with a white light. It then transformed into a gigantic icicle-shaped breath of ice that resembled a dragon's breath.
The cold was already upon him, but Halent's expression didn't change at all. He unhesitatingly swung his sword downwards. His sword clashed with the icicle, and the icicle was reduced to snowflakes. The crackling thunder sword actually easily sliced apart the icicle breath.
"Eh? A special ability to break through magic? It seems that it's not an enchanted magic sword, but a natural talent of my species. "
When fighting against dragon, demon, or God's descendants, apart from needing to be on guard against their much higher basic stats than ordinary people, I also needed to be on guard against all sorts of natural talent abilities that were impossible to defend against.
* Snap! *
I snapped my fingers, and numerous icicles shot up from the ground where the charging Knight was standing.
I lowered my head, protected my face, and used my shoulder as a spear to attack!
* Boom! *
The sword-wielding Knight didn't stop. He actually managed to shatter the icicles. However, judging from the shattered pieces of his armor and the fresh blood on his forehead, he wasn't having an easy time, either. However, Halent knew that maintaining a distance from a mage who had reached such a high level in ice magic would basically be suicidal. Only the courageous would emerge victorious in a direct confrontation. Even if he was injured, he needed to close the distance between us.
"You actually like to ram? Alright then, I'll let you ram to your heart's content. Come, Ice Wall. "
I clapped my hands together, and numerous Ice Walls appeared in the path of my charge. Large amounts of rain and snow fell down, making this place my domain and home ground.
"How is this possible! Doesn't this lich require a casting time or a mana vacuum period? "
Even though Halent's cold expression remained calm, the unfamiliar mage in front of him obviously had extraordinary spellcasting abilities, which he couldn't understand at all.
But even so, he still had a chance of victory …
"Five meters!"
A battle between a mage and a warrior would always depend on distance. Even a mage who was two power levels higher than a warrior would die if a warrior managed to close in on them.
"Ring of Ice!"
The more I fought, the more skilled I became. Although I was shouting the name of a normal ice magic spell, I was actually only using the most basic ice magic, Ice Sculpting.
Elemental Sculpting seemed simple, but it actually had countless wondrous uses.
The simplest elemental model would be constructed, and then I would use mana to place the basic particles in place. A horizontal pull would create an ice wall, a vertical pull would create an icicle, and a circle around the opponent would create an ice ring. This was different from the past when I had to forcefully control the ice and snow. The ice and snow here were like extensions of my will and arm, so it was no different from fighting with my physical body.
* Smack! *
This time, I suddenly clenched my fist in midair and swung it down with all my might. A formless fist of snow suddenly descended without any warning, attacking from a blind spot above Halent's head and smashing him into the ground.
"Oh my, it hurts just by looking at it."
Only after the heavy fist landed did the smoke begin to disperse. A large crater appeared in the ground, and shattered rocks flew everywhere. Just like me, Halent didn't even get a chance to scream before he was smashed into the ground.
The large hand of ice and snow also began to dissipate. Just from its appearance, this technique seemed similar to the high-circle magic spell Barov's Fist, but it was actually just the most basic ice sculpting technique. The only difference was that the sculpting technique was a bit larger, so the mana consumption was still negligible.
If I had only been able to mechanically copy a mage's basic spell model in the past, at most someone would have taught me that one plus one equals two, and I would have been able to come up with ten plus ten equals twenty. But the current me had obtained formulas and calculation methods, so I could easily modify simple spell models as I pleased.
"If I want to condense ice and snow into a solid form, I'll need the ice element to be the tightest. Although it'll be sturdy and sharp, it'll be much slower. If I want it to be fast, I'll just need to condense thin particles. If I want it to become rays of light or mist, I'll need to calculate the reaction force."
My bony hands were filled with large chunks of ice and snow as well as merrily singing ice spirits. Under the influence of my magic, they would occasionally transform into mist, icicles, or colorless and odorless ice. Their shape, state, and size weren't a problem at all. With a single thought, I could change their forms.
With a single thought, I could distort common sense, omit unnecessary processes, and omit the restrictions of common sense. This was the foundational magic I could use as I pleased.
"Oh my, how interesting."
As if I had found my favorite toy, I wholeheartedly focused on controlling my ice and snow magic. I even forgot that I was currently fighting against the incredibly famous dragon knight Archduke Halent.
* Clang! *
… Indeed, I seemed to have forgotten. This pained sound was the sound of my head smashing against a sturdy layer of ice. My pitiful little dragon descendant, I hope that he doesn't get a concussion. It would be terrible if he was injured too badly and left with a psychological scar … I might as well just smash myself several hundred more times and forget all about it. "You little thing.
It's impossible for me to dig a hole and ambush you. How many times do you think I've fought against those worms? The ground has long since frozen over. I'm just waiting to smash into the wall. "
From the moment that Halent summoned a lightning enchantment, I knew that he was most likely a Blue Dragon. And Blue Dragons, who were skilled at controlling lightning and thunder, loved to build their nests in deserts and barren hills. They were naturally skilled at digging holes. Their natural talents included Sand Movement and Earth Movement, so of course I would be on guard against them.
The snow in this area was getting heavier and heavier. Although I hadn't created a Soul World yet, all the preparations were complete. All of my mana had been converted into pure ice and snow elemental essence. They were the paint I would use to copy the Northlands' scenery, while the foundational magic Ice Sculpting was my brush. My copy of my world of ice and snow was complete.
Snowflakes kept falling, and the ground was now covered in a thick layer of snow. This small piece of land transformed into a snowy mountain, and the magical Crystal Tree was also faintly visible in the snow.
From a distance, it seemed to be nothing more than a beautiful snowy scene. However, just like the freezing Northlands' winter, death traps would often be hidden in the clean snowy scenery. If one didn't understand the rules of the snowy mountain and only acted on their instincts, then a greedy traveler wouldn't be able to see the next spring.
"… So this is my Soul Imprint, the Ice Walker? Oh my, it's just what I like. I apologize that I didn't get to see your true power until today. "
The snowflakes in the air could transform into lethal ice blades at any moment. The accumulated snow on the ground could suddenly collapse or freeze at any moment. The layer of ice under the accumulated snow was even beginning to silently form ice blades. The reflection of light from the ice and snow created an illusion of endless white snow. One wrong step would either cause me to fall into a bottomless abyss or forever sleep with the ice and snow.
The ice element kept falling along with the snow. The ordinary street had transformed into a giant snowy mountain. This seemed like a tremendous amount of mana, but actually, all I needed to do was use my mana to summon ice and snow. Since the snowy scenery had already been created, all that was left was to slowly admire it.
As expected, fighting against opponents of similar strength levels was an excellent way to improve myself. In the past, my opponents' power levels had been completely uneven. They were either so strong that I couldn't defeat them without using cheats, or so weak that I could defeat them with only one hand. This time, I was forced to use ice and snow magic to fight. This was a long-awaited full-power battle, but it allowed my many years of accumulation and recent understandings to explode, transforming them into actual combat strength through actual combat.
I could sense that deep within my soul, the Ice Walker Soul Imprint that had been reconstructed was now faintly glowing. It was growing stronger under the nourishment of the silver light, but it seemed to have become much smaller, only about one-quarter of its original size.
"… Everyone only has one soul, and only one Soul Imprint. Do I have to reach the standard for all four abilities before I can enter the Legend rank?"
I didn't need to say anything else, nor did I need to search for a reason. It was as if I had received some sort of heavenly revelation. I already knew that if I wanted to enter the Legend rank, I would have to gradually summon all four Soul Imprints, and I would have to improve myself.
"Others only need to experience it once, but I need to experience it four times? And finally, I even need to try fusing with them? What kind of hellish difficulty is this? Forget about ice magic. I learned it wrongly in the past, but it's fine to change it. That counts as an improvement. However, my attainments in Law, Holy Light, and Death are almost at the peak of the world. How am I supposed to improve? Why does it feel like it's even more difficult for me to enter the Legend rank than it is for others to enter the SemiGod rank? "
Now that I knew my future path, although I kept complaining verbally, a nameless fire was burning in my heart. I wasn't a masochist who didn't take the normal path, so of course I would have complaints about the ridiculously high difficulty of entering the Legend rank.
However, I also knew that there was no such thing as luck on the path of cultivation. The harder it was to advance, the greater the rewards would be. Since I had to pay four times the price, even if I didn't pay ten times the price, I would at least pay back five times the price.
[Soul Imprint Ice Walker has been completely activated. All ice magic effects have been increased by 20%, and mana consumption has been reduced by 20%. You have obtained the passive ability, King of Winter. System Notification: Your opponent is still alive and well. Stop daydreaming.]
[King of Winter (Passive): When the surroundings are completely covered in ice and snow, transform into the Lord of Ice and Snow, greatly increasing your control over ice and snow. When the ice and snow elemental cycle is completed, the surroundings will be treated as your personal domain. You will only need to pay a small amount of mana to maintain the domain of ice and snow.]
As my understanding of ice and snow improved, my Soul Imprint was completely activated. Under its buff, the snowflakes also became larger, and it became much easier to control fine ice and snow. Although it didn't seem like an improvement, the overall improvement in all aspects brought about a fundamental qualitative change.
And right now, in a battle between two people, if one of them suddenly became stronger, it was only natural that his opponent would be unlucky.
Now that I had complete control over this area, all the thin ice and snow within several hundred square meters became my eyes and ears. How could that "little lizard" underground possibly escape my senses?
"Ha, Roland's heavy punch!"
The heavy punch of ice and snow descended, and the dragon Knight that had just popped its head out of the hole was hit by the heavy punch of ice and snow. It could only viciously dig back into the ground. The Blue Dragon saw that its master was at a disadvantage, so it angrily roared and struggled to get up. However, Little Red, who was on its head, fiercely stomped its foot, causing the Blue Dragon to howl in pain and collapse to the ground.
And right now, I kept loudly shouting out the name of the spell as I viciously smashed it down on the ground.
Since this was a completely original spell, according to mage customs, as the creator, I had the right to name the spell and add the inventor's name as the prefix. This was one of the highest honors for a mage. I had been eyeing "Heloise's Shadow Steps" and "Amelia's Fruit Ripening Spell" for a very long time. Now that I had the chance, of course I would enjoy it.
"Roland's Ice Arrow! Roland's Ice Blade! Roland's many types of Ice Palms! Haha, I'm not a magic idiot! I want to fight ten of you! "
Since his ambush on the ground had failed, Halent would have to return to the surface if he wanted to recover from his disadvantage. He kept smashing down on the dragon Knight with all sorts of ice spells, and it was as if he was playing whack-a-mole. Just as I was proudly planning to go apply for a patent for this spell in two days, the silly cat actually jumped out at me again.
"Roland, new spells require innovative magical principles and unique spell models. Do you have one?"
Alright then, although it would be easy for me to trick noobs, I wouldn't be able to trick experts. While I could casually make up names, these seemingly different spells were still just variations of the same first-circle spell, Ice Sculpture. Even if it had powerful control and control abilities and was very mana efficient, it was still only a basic spell. The dragon Knight hadn't died even after taking so many hits, which meant that its attack power was obviously insufficient. It still needed to be perfected.
"… Dragon Knight? Why does it only know how to run? Why don't you change your name to Cockroach?"
Large amounts of ice and snow transformed into giant ice blades that pierced through the ground, threatening Archduke Halent who was underground. The most fatal part was that the ice and snow kept spreading like the roots of a large tree. It would soon catch its prey.
"He's obviously taking it out on me."
"I think he's angry because he's embarrassed."
"You're still calling yourself an adult? It's me … you're so immature that you're taking it out on others when you're in a bad mood! And you're always saying that others are immature. "
Alright then, I'll pretend that I didn't hear my own people ridiculing me behind my back. Actually, this mysterious battle had already ended. While it was true that any ordinary mage would instantly die if a powerful warrior managed to get close to them, most situations were like this. The warrior would be dragged into the mage's battle rhythm, and even if he had tremendous strength, he would still be unable to get close to the mage. He would only be able to run around and be toyed with until he died.
And if this situation continued and the cold continued to permeate the ground, the earth would be frozen solid. Naturally, his natural talent of traveling on the ground would become useless, and it would be impossible for him to come out even if he wanted to.
"… So this is the Dragon Knight Archduke? Although this is within expectations, isn't it a little too disappointing?"
Heloise seemed to be addicted to ridiculing me as she immediately retorted.
"Don't make it sound so easy. With your equipment and Frigid Winter's buff, do you think there'll be any difference even if your opponent is a Saint-rank warrior? That child is quite unlucky. From the very start, your Frigid Calamity aura kept stacking on top of each other to slow him down, and he was foolish enough to smash into an ice wall with his bare hands. I think that stacking on top of each other to such an extent has completely messed up his sense of time. Right now, we're at least three times his normal speed in his eyes. As expected of the fastest Blue Dragon Bloodline. It's already quite impressive that he's able to dodge your magic attacks. "
Heloise seemed to recall something as she spoke in a rather displeased tone.
"Your ability is too insidious, especially that Frigid Calamity aura that slows down time. Anyone who doesn't have information about it beforehand will be at a disadvantage."
"Oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot. I didn't expect such an ability to exist. In that case, his normal speed is more than three times what he's displaying right now. That's truly dangerous! "
Although I said that it was dangerous, I actually didn't care about it at all. However, some people were impossible to judge based on common sense. The sudden development proved that Heloise had great foresight. Even though I had increased the speed of the Dragon Knight, I had still underestimated the Dragon Descendant Knight before me.
"Ah!"
Along with Halent's angry roar was an explosion of thunder. In order to make it easier to attack the enemy underground, when an ice blade pierced into the ground, the frozen ground there would instantly thaw. Although it was only a few milliseconds' worth of time, Halent actually managed to jump out of the ground while being obstructed by the earth.
Halent's angry roar shattered the descending ice blade, and his vertical pupils glared at me as if they were about to spit fire. The next instant, I understood how he managed to grab that one-thousandth of a second to successfully rush out of the ground despite being repeatedly slowed down.
Halent suddenly raised his greatsword and swung it backwards with great force, crashing into the ground and using the recoil force to throw himself out of the ground.
"So it's the recoil force."
I instantly understood. Halent seemed to have discovered that he was being forcefully slowed, but since he was unable to dispel it, he came up with a stupid idea. Since his movements were being slowed down, then he would use the recoil force to throw himself out of the ground. This wouldn't slow him down at all.
It was truly difficult to do such a thing when time was being sped up by three times, as well as to seize the opportunity. First, one would need to have beast-like instincts and the ability to predict movement coordinates. Even without all that, his ability to react in such a desperate situation was nothing to be scoffed at.
However, I unhurriedly started chanting an incantation. I had long since prepared a Dimensional Door at such a far distance, so I increased the distance between us and continued smashing at the mole.
“Ame！”
The Dragon Descendant showed off his trump card. He tossed aside his greatsword and suddenly spread his wings. Blue lightning surrounded his body as he transformed into a physical cannonball that instantly accelerated. The Fastest Dragon showed off his natural talent ability. The next instant, his blood-red eyes appeared right in front of me.
"It's over."
"It's over."
Both Dragons said the same thing. Blue Dragon sounded rather delighted, while Little Red simply shrugged in boredom, as if she didn't care at all.
As for me, I smiled as I looked at Halent who was flashing with lightning. I slowly reached out my hand towards the air, and my adamantine staff that seemed to weigh several tons appeared in my hand. Then, I lowered my head, twisted my body, and swung my staff at the ball of flesh. Home run!
"Ha! What demon is this! Take this from Old Sun! "
However, no one responded to my comment. With a beautiful home run, Halent flew backwards at twice his original speed and crashed into a wall. That's right, a wall. He was completely and utterly embedded into the wall, causing a part of the wall to collapse. He was in an even worse state than I was earlier.
"Ha, I'm the white-robed Gan … Rex. My magic is top-notch, and my staff techniques are top-notch. Who said that mages don't know martial arts! A Da! You want to compete with me in strength? You're two hundred years too young. "
A normal dragon would only have around 25 Strength, while a dragon descendant would have at most 23 Strength. And with the divine power bracers that I had obtained from the Earth Elemental God, my brute strength had already surpassed the 30 mark. Dragons were on completely different levels.
However, I didn't have the time to continue mocking my defeated opponent. Perhaps I was having too much fun just now, or perhaps Halent had some special communication technique, but while I was busy fighting with Halent, we were gradually surrounded by the enemies who were using the cover of the rainy night as cover. At this moment, there were more than ten dragons in the sky and on the surrounding city walls. Who knew how many more were hiding in the shadows?
Malicious gazes gathered behind us, while shadows of death circled in midair. The dragons weren't impatient at all. They had plenty of patience against powerful opponents, so they enjoyed hunting together.
"Should I say that I'm honored? We actually directly met with half a dragon knight squadron? Sigh, this battle is so strange. "
But before I could even think about how to deal with this, an elderly voice spoke up in midair, followed by a silver dragon descending from the sky.
"Your Highness Fina? Is that Princess Fina? Little fellows, what are you doing! Stop your attack formation! This is Princess Fina, a true member of the Bardi Empire's royal bloodline! I'm Johann, the leader of your Knight Guards! "
Hearing that, Lilith was shocked, and her face was full of disbelief. She did not expect to meet an old acquaintance here, but if the other party was a dragon descendant, it was only natural. One or two hundred years was nothing to the Dragon Clan.
Lilith suddenly took a step back, as if she instinctively wanted to escape. But when she thought about Amelia, whose status was unknown, and how things had developed to this point, it was impossible to avoid Nightrain City no matter what. In the end, she could only grit her teeth and nod.
"Sir Johann? Long time no see. But please call me Lilith. "
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